Speed Force
by Erumaren
Summary: Racing. The smell of smoke and burnt rubber accompanied by the sound of roaring engines. I'm just a kid with big dreams, working endlessly to make my car faster than the others. I've only been racing a year now, but already I've built a reputation to match my need for speed. They call me, the Speed Force.
1. Chapter 1

**A.N** _So this is just a random story that came to mind. It involves a bunch of random goofiness and some friendly rivalry. Tell me what you think and I hope you enjoy!_

 _ **Chapter One: Early Days**_

"Jess! You awake yet?" came a voice from the other side of my door. _Who would be crazy enough to be up this early on a break day?_ I wondered. Sleepily I rolled over and peered at my clock. 6:23 peered back at me in little red numbers. I groaned a reply along the lines of, "Yes, go away, it's a break day."

"You do know we've got a rally this afternoon right?"

That woke me up, _oops.._ how could I have forgotten! We had a qualifying rally for the annual Golden Tournament. It was every drivers dream to get into the Tournament, and this year was the first year me and my buds could race for it. _So Awesome!_ My startled noise was cut off abruptly when I fell from the comfortably warm side of my bed onto the cold carpet below. Outside the door I could hear muffled laughter and my tired brain caught on that it was just Cam having a bit of fun.

"Cameron! You better hope your legs are as fast as your wheels because in a minute you're gonna be dead." I growled playfully.

I was pleased by the sound of retreating footsteps and disentangled myself from the sheet wrapped around my leg. Finally reaching my feet, and concealing the most obvious signs of my gender, I then grabbed a shirt from the dresser, pulling on a pair of jeans draped over the end of my bed a moment later. I walked out of my room and headed for the elevator. The hotel we were staying in was absolutely gorgeous and I loved looking at the different paintings hung up in the hall. A luxury I had little time for. I found Cam waiting for me by the elevator with our good friend Ryan.

"Look who finally decided to join the realm of the living Ryan!" Cameron exclaimed cheerily.

I swiped at him and he dodged behind our taller friend who merely grinned. The elevator dinged and the doors opened, we stepped in and I pushed the button for the ground floor.

"So today's the big day." Ryan said thoughtfully.

"Yup, today's our one chance at making it to the big time. I'm just glad we're not in the same stages. Otherwise it'd just be weird." Cam chipped in.

"The only thing weird about it would be you Cam." was Ryan's amused comeback.

I stood in silence, staring at a spot on the floor. My entire racing career swirled before my eyes. My first car, first race I lost, Meeting Cam and Ryan, everything that had led up to this point.

"...Jess? Jesse? Earth to JJ…" I heard Cameron's distant voice call me from my reverie.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking." I replied hastily.

Cam chuckled, "What else is new?" he asked, elbowing me in the ribs.

I scowled and soon joined in his amusement. Ryan and Cameron had been in the circuit longer than me by about two years. Of the three of us, Ryan was the most senior. Cameron had joined six months later. The elevator dinged again and we found ourselves on the ground floor headed to the big glass doors. The morning was slightly damp but clear. A noise to my right made me raise an eyebrow at Cam.

"Hey! Not my fault. Say, who's hungry?" He said brightly.

"I could eat." Ryan mused.

I was torn between going to the garage or going to get food. My stomach decided for my by voicing its agreement with my two friends.

"Traitor," I whispered to it, then to my friends I said, "seems I'm outnumbered, let's go!"

We made our way to the local Cracker Barrel which was a block away from the hotel. After a slightly hurried breakfast, and a brief escapade to the comic book store from which we had to forcibly extract a very hyper Cam, we walked the short distance to the raceway and the garage. As we headed towards our docks, which happened to be right next to each other, I felt like someone was watching me. When I turned around, I froze. I'd know those colors anywhere...

"Hey Speedster."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2: Ready..Steady...**_

In a red and gold suit with helmet under arm and a confident grin on his face, stood Clutch Knight. Media called him the "Golden Kid" (Though now he was older they called him the "Golden King) in his first year alone, he'd passed every test with flying colors. He had even beat the king of the sport himself, Tom DeReign.

"Your Majesty." Cam said, dripping sarcasm with an over exaggerated bow.

Ryan's eyes were like steel, "What do you want Knight?"

Holding up his hands defensively our opponent said, "Easy McAllister, I'm only here to wish you the best of luck."

A snort of laughter escaped my lips, "Yeah, sure."

Clutch Knight walked away and called over his shoulder, "From the looks of things, you'll need it!"

I started towards the garage again, "Come on guys, he's just trying to get under our skin."

"Mission accomplished." Muttered Cameron.

"Remember Cam, murder is illegal." Said Ryan with a half amused smirk after seeing the dark looks Cam was sending in the direction that Clutch had just walked off in.

I chuckled as we reached our destination. Cam and Ryan went to their respective cars and started touching up a few things and checked their gear for the race. I lifted the door to my garage and for a moment stood and remembered all the trouble I'd gone through to make my Mazda MX3 the best in the field. Every spare hour I'd had, along with long nights accompanied by endless amounts of caffeine. All for this, the sport I loved. I walked over and ran my fingers lightly over the smooth surface of the hood. Beneath it lay my baby, the engine I had shed blood, sweat and tears over. I remembered what it sounded like the first time I'd started it. Like a sputtering, wheezing pile of nuts, bolts and old tubes. It had taken me months to get it anywhere near the equivalent of a working engine. Giving the hood a fond pat I meandered over to the glass case in the back of the room. In it, was my suit. Solid black with silver stripes down the sides. On the table with my tools was the matching black helmet.

"Well old friend," I whispered to the Mazda, "it's now or never, lets make this count and show 'em what we got."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three: Go!**_

I followed the pit crew as they rolled the Mazda onto the raceway. It never got old; the thrill of hearing all those excited fans, screaming, yelling and cheering for their favorite racer. Though I was still new to the circuit I could occasionally hear the chant of "Speed Force" from the stands. From behind the safety of my dark visor, a grin had plastered itself to my face. It was moments like this that I remembered why I loved racing. I did it for them, the millions of fans who loved the sport almost as much as I did and who followed it loyaly. We reached the pits and everyone fell silent as the announcer began to speak.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Golden Tournament Qualifying Rally." he began grandly. "Please rise for the national anthem."

I heard the rumble of thousands of people getting to their feet. Placing my hand over my heart, I stood silently as I listened to the woman who was singing the anthem. Next to the actual start of the race, this was my absolute favorite part of the event.

"Drivers, please get into your cars."

Taking a deep breath I climbed into the car and buckled in. My crew chief, Matt put a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't tear yourself up out there, okay kid?" He asked.

I nodded and suppressed a shiver of excitement from sliding up my spine. Placing the net back across the window I went through a couple pre-race checks to calm my nerves. With everything checking out in the clear, I waited for the command to start the engine.

"Drivers, Start. Your. Engines!"

The sound of over fifty car engines sparking to life raised goosebumps down my arms. My heart skipped a beat when my own engine roared with them. I quickly bottled my excitement and put it on a shelf as the race started. All sense of time fell away from my mind as the rally got underway, I barely remembered any of the pit stops I made. My only thought was to keep a good position so I'd at least have a chance to go to the Golden Tournament itself. Faster than I could blink the race was over, I took a slow lap back around to the pits and parked in my slot. As I climbed out, I was absolutely exhausted, but my team obviously had other ideas, If their rowdy welcome was any indication.

"Good Job kid!"

"You made us proud. Good race."

"Ha ha, Clutch thinks he's gonna win the Tournament does he? Well, he's got another thing coming!"

The rest of their voices fell to a dull roar as the crew chief walked up. He smiled at me and put a hand on my shoulder, in his eyes I could see emotions of pride, and worry. Why was he worried? Also, why was the world suddenly going…

"I think he's coming around now."

My mouth was dry and my head felt fuzzy. I tried to sit up but a pair of hands firmly pushed me back down.

"Easy kid. Hey, can we have a minute?"

"Sure."

Footsteps and the sound of a door opening and closing. I finally managed to convince my eyes to open and found the faces of Matt, Ryan and Cameron looking down at me.

"Normally, I'd be yelling at you all to beat it. But I'm going to assume that's not gonna happen this time is it?" I rasped.

Ryan shook his head and Cam looked like he was gonna cry. Matt stood there with an unreadable expression on his face.

"You scared us bad, kid." he said.

"Yeah well, I blame the race."

"You mean the one that you managed to not only beat your personal record but beat the entire field by a lap and a half?" asked Cameron, who had apparently recovered enough that his usual impish air had returned.

"I did what now?" I asked as I sat up.

"You won."

"By a lap and a half."

"Yeah, ya did good kiddo."

I fell back onto the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. I won. I would finally get the chance to go to the Golden Tournament and see it in person. Oh sure, watching it on the T.V. was cool, but to actually go there, and race! It was the best feeling in the world.

"Feeling good enough to attend the trophy ceremony?" Matt asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Are you kidding?" I squeaked as I threw off the blanket and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. "Of course I'm going, why wouldn't I?"

"I have somewhere I should be, but, they can wait. I want to see Knight's face." If glee was a tangible substance, it was pouring forth from Ryan's mouth in great quantities.

Half an hour later, we found ourselves backstage in the post-race rush. The general clamour of people talking was pierced by a rather shrill shriek. Out of curiosity I wandered in the general direction from where the sound originated. Ryan shot me a weird look and I stuck my tongue out at him as I walked away. My curiosity was sated and I found myself amused by the scene before me. Two girls, one in a grey sweater and jeans with a messenger bag and her nose in a book, the other with a sweatshirt that had the distinctive logo of Knight's fans displayed prominently who apparently was having some sort of stroke as she dragged her friend along and maneuvered herself to be closer or in front of the very long line of people who were hoping to get an autograph from Clutch Knight himself.

"Hannah!" she squealed, "It's him, Clutch Knight! Racing legend and basically the greatest human being in existence ever!"

"Yeah, he's so great Cassius." replied her companion dryly.

"Don't be like that, come on." Said the fangirl in a huff as she shifted from foot to foot impatiently.

"What? Look, if I was as into this whole racing thing as much as you are I'd probably pick someone else to be excited over."

"Like who? Clutch is the king of this sport." The girl wearing the sweatshirt with Knight's logo.

"I dunno, maybe that Speed Force guy. He's pretty mysterious, I mean, why does he wear that helmet when he's on camera all the time?"

I smirked at that. Since I'd been in a rush this morning, I hadn't had the time to properly disguise myself. The bindings had a dual purpose; firstly, it hid the most obvious signs of my gender well and gave the impression that I was a pretty buff dude, secondly, prior to my racing career I had been a demolition derby driver. The bandage helped with keeping a sore back in check, which, while it didn't always serve that purpose, it was always nice to have it on when it was needed.

"Well, maybe he knows he's not as good looking as Clutch Knight and keeps it on so other people don't have to see how ugly he is."

"Ouch. That's brutal."

I chuckled to myself and continued to walk towards the two. I hadn't changed out of my suit yet so it was the equivalent of wearing a V.I.P pass as I approached the two girls.

"Hey ladies." I said.

Both girls spun around, startled by my silent approach. The girl with the book squeaked and her friend yelped.

"Oh, hi there." Responded the reader.

"Who are you?" Asked her friend bluntly, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Number 83, Jesse Cervera." I said with a bow.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Hannah Morts and the obsessive fangirl here is my friend Cassidy Lessur." said the girl whom I'd seen reading.

"Yeah, hi. Oh! Hannah look, only five more people then it's our turn!" Exclaimed Cassidy.

"Joy." The sarcasm was tangible.

"Say, why don't I get you girls in a V.I.P line?" I offered.

Cassidy looked as if I'd offered her candy.

"You could do that?" she said softly, I could feel her excitement.

"Please do, the sooner we're done here, the sooner I can get back to my books." Said Hannah.

I laughed and gestured for the two to follow me, we passed the few people who had been ahead of them and walked up to where Clutch was just finishing signing a t-shirt for a fan.

"There you go man, welcome to the Round Table." He said flashing a grin at the starstruck teen who dashed off to show his prize to his friends. Clutch looked up again, his grin vanished when he saw me. "Oh, it's you." he growled. "Whaddya want kid?"

"Me? Nothing, beating you was enough. I was just lending these two ladies here a hand so they could meet the "Golden King" himself." I replied.

"Well then," Knight smiled at Cassidy and Hannah, "I couldn't let my loveliest fan's down now could I?"

Hannah looked as if she could care less; Cassidy on the other hand looked like she was going to explode. I chuckled and backed off to let them do their thing.

"So, what would you like? A selfie? Autograph? Tell you what, I'd even do both for you." Knight said to Hannah.

"Selfie please!" said Cassidy enthusiastically.

"Neither, thanks." Hannah replied.

"Here, if you give me your number I'll send our picture to you." Said Knight as he put an arm around Hannah and took a selfie with her.

"Get off me you creep." snapped Hannah, soundly smacking Knight upside the head.

I started laughing at the dazed look in Knight's eyes and applauded Hannah.

"Yes! Thank you, oh you have no idea how beautiful that was."

"Deserved it, the weirdo."

"Hannah! How could you?" Raged Cassidy as she stood rooted to the ground.

Knight had apparently regained himself enough to glare at me.

"Watch it kid."

Something told me this whole Golden Tournament was gonna be a whole lot less golden and a lot more tournament…


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter Four: Life in the Fast Lane**_

I headed back towards the stage where I had left Cameron and Ryan.

"Where ya been, Speedster? The fun's about to start!" Said a rather enthusiastic Cam.

"Just witnessing the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, Knight getting a slap to the face. I'll introduce you two to the woman who did it later." I explained.

Ryan took his opportunity to shove me in the general direction of the stairs leading up to the stage where Clutch Knight and another driver were waiting for the ceremony to begin.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" boomed the announcer, "It is my pleasure to introduce to you the three lucky winners of today's rally. These drivers will be moving on to the Golden Tournament in three days."

I took a breath to calm the butterflies in my stomach and continued watching the fellow on stage for my cue.

"In third place, we have number 17; Connor Henderson, !"

Applause erupted from the crowd as the blue and white clad driver went up on stage.

"In second place we have number 54; Clutch Knight!"

More raucous cheering and applause from the crowd as Knight went up on stage.

"And now ladies and gents, I am proud to introduce you to this rally's winner. Winning the race by a full lap and a half, number 83; Jesse Cervera!"

I took a deep breath and hopped up the steps onto the massive stage. An excited crowd cheered and the familiar chant of "Speed Force, Speed Force" rose up. The announcer gave Henderson and Knight the bronze and silver trophies. When my turn came to receive a trophy I was in an almost drunken stupor, I took another breath, one of many it seemed, and walked forward with a confident grin on my face.

"Congratulations Speedster." said the man, using my media nickname.

"Thanks man, but it's not over yet." I said.

"Too right, go win it for the Force." of course he was referring to my own fan-base.

"Will do." I shook his hand and waved a farewell to the clamoring crowd as I made my way off stage back to my friends.

"Nicely done out there Jess." Ryan said warmly.

"Woo hoo! Golden Tournament here we come!" whooped Cameron.

The two girls, Hannah and Cassidy, who I had met earlier had made their way over to us. Cassidy was of course bursting with excitement as Knight came off the stage. I'm sure Hannah could have cared less. It was at this moment I remembered the celebratory party that was happening later tonight. All the crews and drivers were invited, an added bonus was the plus one drivers were given. I figured since the plus one got a plus one, it wouldn't hurt to ask Cassidy if she wanted to go. Knight was most certainly not going to ask any girl, aside from maybe Hannah. In any case, it was going to be interesting to see how the evening played out.

"Hey Cassidy, there's a party at the Theater Globe tonight, Knight'll probably be there and you can bring Hannah with you, wanna come?" I asked casually.

"Oh, I am so ready for this!" she squealed excitedly. "Hannah, remember when I went shopping right before we left?"

"Yeah, why?" Hannah sounded like she really didn't want to know the answer but she knew it was coming anyway.

"I bought us a couple of party essentials while I was out." Cassidy continued, "Come on, let's go get ready!"

The sky was darkening when Ryan, Cameron and I finally started to make our way back to the hotel.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll meet up with you later." I called as I made my way to the garage.

"See ya there J!" called Cam with a wave.

I chuckled and started walking towards the garage again. Some of the docks were open and I passed some pretty good looking vehicles. I paused when I passed the number 15 dock. Now that was a pretty sweet ride. A red and white Toyota Camry was parked in the dock. Decals reflected the overhead lights and I couldn't help but slip in to check it out.

"Wow, props to whoever drives this beauty." I said softly.

As I edged around the Camry I accidentally bumped into a workbench and knocked off a couple of wrenches, they landed with a metallic clang and I heard someone jump and bump their head against the car. I finally noticed the pair of legs sticking out from underneath the car.

"Oops, sorry. You okay?" I asked as whoever it was slid out from under the Camry.

"Yeah, ow. Sorry, I didn't notice you were here." the voice belonged to a lanky guy with messy blonde hair and a race suit with colors matching the Camry.

"Heh, it's a bad habit." I said sheepishly.

He chuckled as his fingers gingerly explored his skull to make sure nothing was seriously injured.

"Hey, you're that Speed Force kid aren't you?" he asked after a moment.

"The one and only." I replied. "You're, Rail Rider, right?

"Yeah, huh," he seemed lost in thought, although he did flinch when his fingers rubbed up against the bump on his head.

"I should probably let you get back to, whatever it was you were doing.." I said halfheartedly.

"Yeah, when I have the chance I'm usually in here." he said. "Chief is a bit overbearing so it's nice to get away from him once in awhile."

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out to eye who had texted me. It was Cam.

 _Where are ya?_

I sighed and thumbed back a quick reply, _I'm talking with Rail Rider._

"I've gotta go, the guys are waiting for me." I felt lame for having to bail, but there was no way Cam was gonna let me not go.

"Okay then." said Rail Rider. "I'm Thomas Mathews by the way."

"Jesse Cervera."

I stopped briefly to check up on my Mazda, then made my way to the meeting place in the parking lot where Cameron and Ryan were waiting for me.

"Hey Speedy, what took so long?" Asked Ryan raising and eyebrow.

"Two words," interrupted Cam, "Rail. Rider."

I glared at him and he stuck his tongue out at me.

Ryan sighed, "Kids."

We walked back to the hotel and made our way up to our room.

"Dudes, I just realized how many cute girls are gonna be there." Cam exclaimed.

Ryan gave Cam the most unreadable look ever and I smirked. A ten minute visit to the bathroom to shower and change later, I returned to find Ryan and Cam in their suits and ready to go.

"Dude, _what_ are you wearing?" Asked Cam incredulously, gesturing to my casual jeans, t-shirt and racing jacket.

"A) I'm too tired. B) I'm too lazy. C) I can't pull off a suit like you guys. D) you can stop me any time now." I said listing off the reasons on my fingers.

Cameron shook his head, "Last time I tried arguing with you, I ended up with a black eye for a week."

Ryan laughed outright at that and I couldn't suppress a grin.

"Come on the guys, lets not keep Hannah and Cassidy waiting." I chuckled.

We walked out of the room and down to meet Cassidy and Hannah outside the hotel. Cameron wolf whistled to be funny as we approached them. Cassidy was wearing a curvy black dress the skirt of which was split up to the middle of her thigh and she wore matching heels. Hannah was dressed in a cute blue and black dress, pumps, her signature book-bag and some adorable wide rimmed glasses completed her look.

"Hey ladies." Ryan drawled.

"Hiya!" chirped Cassidy.

"You girls ready to go?" I asked.

"The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can get back to reading." said Hannah dryly.

"I remember you walking out with a book Hannah." said Cassidy.

"You know what I meant Cassius." rolling her eyes, Hannah started walking towards the Theater Globe, and the rest of us followed her, chatting amiably.

The Theater Globe was one huge party. Flashing colored lights, loud music, people talking, and laughing. The atmosphere was buzzing. I was a little in awe of just how huge the place was. Sure, I'd seen it in pictures and stuff but being here in person was a whole different story.

"Dudes! This party be happening." said Cam in his terrible, terrible gangster impression.

"Give it a rest Williamson." laughed Ryan.

"Why don't you go find us some drinks Cam." I suggested.

With an enthusiastic wave Cam darted off into the crowd.

"And that's the last we'll see of him for a while." I noted.

"Yeah, place like this, Cameron would be lost within seconds." Ryan sounded amused at the prospect of having to chase Cam down when it was time to leave.

Cassidy squealed, I turned to look and see what it was she was so excited about my eyebrow quirked when I saw who it was. Heading in our direction, confident smirk in place, was Clutch Knight. Hannah hadn't noticed him yet as she had her nose in a book. Sidling up next to her I gave her a nudge in the ribs.

"All that glitters is not gold." I said softly.

Hannah looked up and groaned when she saw Knight heading towards us.

"I'm gonna go find something to drink." she said shortly.

I chuckled with Ryan as we watched Hannah stalk off. Cassidy was having a moment of extreme fangirlism as Knight approached the three of us. Seeing that Hannah was no longer with us, he glared at Ryan, then at me.

"Did you say anything?" He growled.

"Nope, not me. Woman's intuition." I said holding up my hands.

He gave Ryan and I another glare for good measure before walking off to try and find Hannah.

"Well, that was somewhat unpleasant." said Ryan.

"Yeah. Hey, let's go find Hannah before Knight does." I said looking around.

"Lead the way Speedster." Ryan replied.

By the time we found Hannah, she was about three sheets to the wind and probably wasn't sure which way was up. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones who had found Hannah. Knight was there, trying, and failing (miserably) at using smooth one liners on her. What did amuse me, and Ryan as well I assumed, was the fact that even though she was far more buzzed than any of us had probably ever been, she was still herself enough to brush Knight off when he tried to sweet talk her.

It was around this time that Cameron showed up and Cassidy, whose attentions seemed to be focused on something else other than Knight, slipped off.

"Hi guys!" Cam called as he came up to us.

"Hey Cam." greeted Ryan. "Enjoy yourself did ya?"

"You bet." came the cheeky reply.

"Oh buzz off Knight!" said Hannah swiping at Clutch who just barely dodged the blow.

"Tell me angel, did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" Clutch was not the least bit phased by Hannah's violent attempts to disfigure his face. Which honestly would have done him a favor, in my opinion.

"Knight be failing at da smooth, yo." commented Cameron.

"Ya don't say." Ryan was in a fine mood, if the wide grin on his face was any indication.

"Has anyone ever noticed how much of a goddess Cassidy is?" asked Cam.

I quirked a brow at him, "Say what now?"

"Those legs though. Not to mention her fine taste in food, chicken nuggets for the win dudes."

"I think it's time we went home, ey Ryan?" I said giving Ryan a look.

Ryan opened his mouth as if he were gonna argue, then closed his mouth and nodded.

"Yo Cassidy!" I called, "Time to go lady!"

"Comin'!" I heard her reply.

By the time we made it back to the hotel, it was well after 1 o'clock in the morning.

"Come on Hannah, this way." said Cassidy as she coaxed her friend into their room.

"Night girls." Ryan said and we made our way back to our own room.

"I get the feeling we're gonna be feeling the effects of tonight in the morning." I mused.

"Hannah will, for sure." said Cam, unaware of just how close he was to my fist. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Just shut up and go to bed Cam." Ryan intervened.

"Fine."

It was sometime after 2:30 that I fell into a dreamless sleep.


End file.
